The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Board of Directors announced today that, effective October 14, Jeff Dahnert has resigned as its president and CEO. Dahnert joined the staff of SCCA in 2004 and has served as president since 2009.

Sports Car Club of America honored their top Club Racing volunteers on Wednesday evening at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs® at Road America, selecting nine BFGoodrich Tires Workers of the Year.

One BFGoodrich Tires Worker of the Year award was given to a member in each of the nine SCCA divisions, regardless of specialty. Each of those nine Divisional winners are given a set of BFGoodrich Tires and a patch, plaque and jacket to commemorate the achievement.

To award a grand prize winner, the nine finalist’s names were put into a hat. Gene Peterson, a Scrutineer from the Arizona Region, was selected for the top bill.

The grand prize, a trip to the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway, will include airfare, lodging, tickets, track hospitality, golf cart for use during the weekend and pit and paddock tours, all courtesy of BFGoodrich Tires.

Mark Bingheim, Race Administrator from the Chicago Region, was selected in a second drawing to win a lifetime SCCA membership.

“We’re here tonight to celebrate what makes our Club unique in the motorsports world: our dedicated bunch of volunteers,” Terry Ozmet, SCCA VP of Club Racing, said. “Thank you for all of your hard work, time and dedication.”

Previously in the evening, Dayle Frame, representing the Production drivers, awarded 53 workers envelopes with cash totaling $2,685 that was donated by racers at the group’s party on Tuesday night.

The 50th SCCA National Championship Runoffs®, The Pinnacle of American Motorsports, will crown Sports Car Club of America’s Club Racing National Champions at Road America, Friday, September 20 through Sunday, September 22.

Officials from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Sports Car Club of America confirmed today the dates of the 2014 SCCA National Championship Runoffs®, October 6-12, 2014. The event’s historic return to the west coast was announced in July.

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will become the seventh track to host the National Championship event in the Runoffs’ 50-year history, and marks the return of the Runoffs to the west coast for the first time since the now-closed Riverside International Raceway in 1968.

“We are pleased to be able to host the SCCA Runoffs next year,” said Gill Campbell, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca CEO/general manager. “Sports car racing is why this facility was developed way back in 1957. It is our passion. It is in our DNA.”

The visit to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2014 is the first stop in a new era of Runoffs competition. The Runoffs will rotate each year beginning in 2014, moving to Daytona International Raceway in 2015 and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2016.

“When we announced the Runoffs would move to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2014, the next question we were asked was about the dates,” said Jeff Dahnert, SCCA President/CEO. “We’ve been working diligently to fit it into both schedules, and now we can begin to make plans for next year. We’re looking forward to being in Monterey in early October for such a historic occasion.”

The SCCA National Championship Runoffs has crowned Club Racing National Champions in a winner-take-all, single race format since 1964. Through 24 separate races over three days, the 2013 edition will crown champions in 28 Runoffs-eligible classes.

Sunday, October 13, 2013!Join the CAL Club CHOC Walk Team!

Join a group of your fellow workers, racers, family, and friends as we participate in the 23rd Annual CHOC Walk in the Park 5k at the Disneyland Resort. All funds raised by the walkers go directly to the Children’s Hospital of Orange County.

Why Every Step Counts

Thousands of CHOC Children’s supporters will walk through the Disneyland® Resort on Sunday, Oct. 13, at the 23rd Annual CHOC Walk in the Park.

Last year, over 14,000 participants raised over $2 million helping to support the care, services, education and research that CHOC provides children. Your Cal Club Team “Racing For Kids” raised over $4,000!

Now, every step means more. As CHOC expands the services provided throughout the community, your support will help more children, in addition to making sure that every child who is in need will receive care regardless of their family’s ability to pay.

A One-of-a-kind Walk Experience

Upon arriving at the Disneyland® Resort, you realize this is more than a visit to Disneyland®. It’s a celebration of the continuous support from our community. It’s a time for families to thank the doctors and nurses that cared for their children, and share their stories with other families. As you walk through Disneyland® Park, Disney’s California Adventure®Park and Downtown Disney®, you’ll be joined by your favorite Disney friends, cheering you on and providing unique photo opportunities. You’ll have the exclusive opportunity to experience Disneyland® as you never have before! At the end of the 5k Walk, the celebration continues in the Downtown Disney® District where event sponsors, hospital support groups, shops and restaurants have special offers for all Walk participants.

Join us to support CHOC Children’s and see first-hand how to “Let the Memories Begin”.

Julian Dunn

This past month the very brave little boy whom we walked for last year took the final checkered flag at CHOC after a long battle with medulloblastoma, a form of brain cancer.

This year join us in honoring his memory as we walk to raise money for the Children’s Hospital of Orange County so other kids and their families can receive the same great care and support that Julian and his family did.

Excerpt from the July-August 2013 issue of the Santa Monica Sports Car Club’s newsletter. For the full newsletter, which includes a flyer for the “Eureka” rally, click here.

Presidential Mullings

Here we are, already into August! Time is flying. SMSCC has already had three of this year’s day rallies, and there are two more still to come. Eureka is on September 21, and is a combination SMSCC, PCA San Gabriel Valley Region, and Cal Club SCCA rally, written by me. The plan is to find some nice fun roads and some great scenery, and throw in a few traps to keep it interesting. (PCA, and thus this rally, does offer a tour class for those who don’t want to run the regular course.) The traps will be of the sort where when you read the critique you will say, “Duh, I knew that!”

And finally, on November 2 (the day after the FFN), we are presenting a gimmick rally written by Larry Scholnick. Larry is still trying to decide on a name for this rally – it may be called Turkey Traps in honor of Thanksgiving (or maybe some other turkeys?). This rally will be an SCCA GTA (game, tour, adventure) national rally.

For those who don’t know, a gimmick rally is essentially a trap rally but without the timing. There are no assigned speeds, so if you need to stop and think about what to do – you can. There will be times set for completing sections of the course, but you do each section at your own pace.

For both of these rallies, if you are not going to run them (for whatever reason) we invite you to come run checkout. It’s a chance to run the rally for free, and you will learn a lot. Checkout for Eureka is on Sept 7; we have not yet set the date for Larry’s checkout. And, you earn points for this year’s Rally Series!!

See you down the road!

Jeanne English,
SMSCC President

Check out the SMSCC and Cal Club websites for Road Rally results, rally calendar,flyers for upcoming rallies, and other rally-related information (including a link to theSCCA Minor Waiver required for minors to participate). The Cal Club website has aphoto gallery where we post pictures of rally winners – so get ready to smile when youare accepting your trophy!